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Description

Designed along the lines of a treaty heavy cruiser, Germany, not a party to the Washington treaty, nonetheless gave little consideration to the treaty limit of 10,000 tons displacement. The design for the Hipper-class began at 12,500 tons and increased steadily during development. To some degree, the ships were a German response to the 8-inch (203 mm) gun French cruiser Algérie which was a counter to the Italian cruisers of the Mediterranean. Several different gun calibers were considered for the Hipper design, but finally a battery of eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns was selected for the Hipper. This gave them comparable firepower to a British County class cruiser, despite being considerably larger. Troublesome propulsion limited cruising range to 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) - far less than the original design goal of 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km) at 17 knots (31 km/h). After construction of Hipper and Blücher, the design was slightly enlarged, although major features remained similar. Of this new design, only one of three begun was completed - the Prinz Eugen.

The Admiral Hipper class ships, while comparable to heavy cruisers of other navies and considered[by whom?] handsome ships (indeed, the class bore great resemblance to battleships of the Bismarck-class), suffered from some problems and were thus unsuited for some[which?] of the circumstances of World War II. Designed as part of a larger Kriegsmarine (Plan Z), in practice they were required to perform either as commerce raiders or support units to other naval units and ground forces, proving themselves effective in the latter role. As commerce raiders, however, they were hampered by insufficient range, lacking the cruising diesel engines of the Deutschland class cruisers (sometimes referred to as "pocket battleships"). Additionally, their power plants were unreliable. Admiral Hipper was affected by machinery breakdowns in the Atlantic and North Sea, restricting her effectiveness. Prinz Eugen suffered engine problems during Operation Rheinübung after separating from the Bismarck, causing her to terminate her anti-commerce cruise.

Three ships of the class, Hipper, Blücher and Prinz Eugen, saw service for Germany in World War II. Hipper was damaged in an attack on a convoy on New Year's Eve 1942 and remained out of service until January 1945; she was scuttled at Kiel Deutsche Werke shipyards on 2 May 1945. Blücher was sunk in Oslofjord during the German invasion of Norway. Prinz Eugen survived the war and she sank at Kwajalein Atoll on 22 December 1946 after atomic weapons tests. Lützow was transferred partially completed to the Soviet Union in 1940 and served as the Petropavlovsk and then Tallinn in the Baltic; she was scrapped in 1960. Seydlitz was to be converted to an aircraft carrier; this project was not completed and she was scuttled at Königsberg on 10 April 1945. Seydlitz was raised in 1946 and transferred to Leningrad. There was a plan to put her into service using parts from Lützow parts but the plan was abandoned and she was taken off the naval list in 1947. Seydlitz was scrapped at Baltic Shipyard in 1949.[1][2]